Indiana lawmakers kill bill to bolster tenant rights

Ko Lyn Cheang, Indianapolis Star
·2 min read
Andrew Bradley, Policy Director at Prosperity Indiana speaks during the very first tenants day of action, organized by the Indianapolis Tenants Rights Union, on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, at the Indiana statehouse.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

An Indiana bill that would have put the state in step with 45 other states by implementing tenants' rights to enforce basic habitability standards in their rental homes has been effectively killed in a Senate committee.

The local government committee voted on Monday to convert the bill into a summer study session, putting an end to its chances of advancing this year.

There is no guarantee that a summer study committee will result in any legislation on the topic.

"Basically, the bill that Sen. Qaddoura had, we didn't have time to do it, as much as I would have liked to," chair of the committee, Jim Buck (R- Kokomo), said during the hearing of the bill on Monday. "I told Sen. Qaddoura I'm empathetic to what he's trying to do."

More: 'Afraid the whole building was going to collapse:' Bills would fight negligent landlords

Carried by Senate Democrat Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, with Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, and Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, Senate Bill 230 would have given tenants the right to withhold rent if their landlord fails to make necessary housing repairs and the right to make the repairs themselves and deduct the cost from the next rental payment, if the landlord fails to do so within 30 days.

Indiana is one of only five states that does not have either of those habitability enforcement rights.

Tenant advocates were disappointed that the bill was killed.

"We are deeply grateful for @SenFadyQaddoura & @SenGregWalker for co-sponsoring SB 230, but disappointed that this important bill will be turned into a summer study session," Hoosier Action, a housing advocacy group that organized a tenant's day of action last Thursday to lobby lawmakers on this bill, tweeted. "Hoosier tenants in unsafe housing cannot wait."

Contact IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang at kcheang@indystar.com or 317-903-7071. Follow her on Twitter: @kolyn_cheang.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana tenant rights: Statehouse bill on rent withholding killed